Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

यावत्ससागरा पृथ्वी यावच्च कुलपर्वताः । तावत्कालं वसेत्स्वर्गे नान्यथा मम भाषितम्

Transliteration

yāvatsasāgarā pṛthvī yāvacca kulaparvatāḥ | tāvatkālaṃ vasetsvarge nānyathā mama bhāṣitam

Translation

Aussi longtemps que la terre demeure avec ses océans, et aussi longtemps que demeurent les chaînes de montagnes, pour ce même temps on séjourne au ciel : telle est ma déclaration, et il n’en est pas autrement.

Word by Word

• yāvat: as long as
• yāvat: Sambandha (correlative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्यय-प्रयोग)
• Form: अव्यय; परिमाण/अवधि-वाचक (correlative: 'as long as/so long')

• sa-sāgarā: with the oceans
• sa-sāgarā: Visheshana (of pṛthvī)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa (उपसर्ग/सह-प्रयोग) + sāgara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण—'सागरयुक्ता' (with the ocean)

• pṛthvī: the earth
• pṛthvī: Adhikarana (time-limit reference/अवधि-आधार)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛthvī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• yāvat: as long as
• yāvat: Sambandha (correlative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्यय-प्रयोग)
• Form: अव्यय; परिमाण/अवधि-वाचक (correlative)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-बोधक (conjunction)

• kula-parvatāḥ: the family-mountains (mountain ranges)
• kula-parvatāḥ: Adhikarana (time-limit reference/अवधि-आधार)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kula (प्रातिपदिक) + parvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (कुलानां पर्वताः)

• tāvat: for that long
• tāvat: Sambandha (correlative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्यय-प्रयोग)
• Form: अव्यय; तावद्-परिमाण/अवधि-वाचक (correlative: 'so long/that long')

• kālam: time/period
• kālam: Karma (object of 'vaset')
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; कालावधि-निर्देश

• vaset: should dwell
• vaset: Kriya (predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vas (वस्, निवासे)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• svarge: in heaven
• svarge: Adhikarana (location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (negator)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध (negation)

• anyathā: otherwise
• anyathā: Kriya-visheshana (manner)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb: otherwise)

• mama: my
• mama: Sambandha (possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (genitive: my)

• bhāṣitam: (what is) spoken/said
• bhāṣitam: Karta (as predicate-noun: 'my statement')
• Type: Noun
• Root: √bhāṣ (भाष्, वचने) + -ta (क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Skanda Purāṇa context within Māhātmya narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrim-inquirer

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A visionary tableau: the devotee’s merit is shown as a path to celestial realms; below, the earth with oceans and mountain chains; above, svarga with radiant palaces, indicating duration ‘as long as earth endures’.

Characters & Entities

• Svarga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic dharma frames devotion and sacred observance as yielding vast, enduring merit, expressed through the idiom of long svarga-vāsa.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dvārakā, within whose Māhātmya these merit-results are proclaimed.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

This verse gives the promised fruit (phalaśruti) rather than a new rite; it continues the results of the preceding jāgaraṇa/Bhāgavata practice.